Bruins think they have the legs to beat Canadiens

Monday

Apr 28, 2014 at 11:16 PMApr 28, 2014 at 11:21 PM

For the second straight playoff series, the Bruins are being asked if they're fast enough to keep up with an opponent. The B's, who finished off a fast Detroit team in five first-round games, believe they'll also be able to handle the Montreal Canadiens' speed.

Mike Loftus The Patriot Ledger

BOSTON – Here we go again.

Interestingly, though, the topic isn’t how much the Bruins and Canadiens detest each other as they head into their 34th postseason matchup later this week.

This time, it’s about how fast the Bruins’ opponent is, and how fast the Bruins are supposedly not. It was a theme that occasionally annoyed coach Claude Julien before and during the Bruins’ efficient, five-game, first-round win over the Detroit Red Wings and which was back atop the list on Monday when general manager Peter Chiarelli and captain Zdeno Chara held pre-series press conferences at TD Garden.

“It’s too stereotype,” Chiarelli said. “I just hear about it all year. (Julien) and I talk, and we get tired of it.”

“I don’t think we are a slow team,” Chara added. “Obviously, we are built a certain way, and we want to thrive on the way we’re built and excel in areas we are good at, but I don’t think we are necessarily a slow team.”

Like the Red Wings, the Canadiens won three of four regular-season meetings against the Bruins, including both games played at TD Garden. Other similarities: The Habs, like the Wings, reeled off strong finishes to nail down Eastern Conference playoff spots (Montreal was an automatic qualifier via a third-place finish in the Atlantic Division), and that finish included a noteworthy win over the B’s: The Canadiens’ 2-1, shootout win on March 24 at the Garden ended the Bruins’ winning streak at 12 games.

“It’s obviously another difficult series,” Chiarelli said. “We were mediocre against them during the year (1-2-1). They’re a team that has given us trouble historically, so it will be a challenge.”

Chiarelli admitted, perhaps a little grudgingly, that the Canadiens’ team speed is something his team must address.

“Much is said about their size (on the small size, especially compared to the Bruins) and speed, and allegedly that’s what gives us problems,” said the GM. “I think that’s part of it.

“But having said that, that applied to Detroit, too, so you see what happens with that.”

There are significant differences between the Wings and Canadiens, though.

Most of Montreal’s fast, skilled players, from forwards Max Pacioretty, David Desharnais, Tomas Vanek and Brian Gionta down to enigmatic defenseman P.K. Subban, are long-established NHLers, while the Wings were significantly populated by speedsters who had little to no postseason experience.

Montreal also appears to have better depth than Detroit, as evidenced by its first-round sweep of Tampa Bay: Third- and fourth-liners like Lars Eller (2-3–5), Rene Bourque (3-0–3), Dale Weise and veteran Daniel Briere (both 1-1–2) all had outstanding series or scored big goals.

Then there’s goalie Carey Price, who recovered from a slightly leaky Game 1 against the Lightning (the Habs won in overtime, 5-4, on a goal by Weise) to surrender only six more goals over Games 2-4.

“Their goalie is good – very good,” said Chiarelli, part of the Team Canada management team that watched Price help win a gold medal.

Chiarelli also acknowledged that discipline could play a major role in the series – not just because of the intensity of the rivalry, but also because of how the playoffs have been officiated as a whole.

“That’s significant,” he said. “There seems to be a lot more penalties called this year in the playoffs and I would expect that won’t change, so we have to be disciplined.”

But speed, or the perceived lack thereof, was the dominant theme on Monday – so much that Chiarelli was asked about trading Tyler Seguin last July and invoked the name of another speedster he traded, Phil Kessel, in his answer.

“You have to make decisions on guys,” Chiarelli said. “There are (salary) cap decisions, there are personality decisions, there’s where that player will play – all those things come into effect.”

“Despite the common belief that speed kills, I think we’ve shown that we have some speed, and we have some size and we have experience. It will be a challenge, but I think we’ll overcome that challenge.”

Mike Loftus may be reached at mloftus@ledger.com. On Twitter.com: @MLoftus_Ledger.